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Today's the last day of my 3 months internship (as a computer scientist) and I'm supposed to earn ~3.66€/h (~510€/month).

The fact is I haven't been paid yet and no one ever talked about money with me, so I thought the company would pay me the 3 months at the end of the internship.

Today's my last day, and I just realized my boss isn't at the office today (He's at the meeting for the whole day).

I think I will send him a mail but I don't know how to say politely I want to be paid soon ...

Here's what I prepared for now :

Mr [Boss Name],

My internship coming to an end, I wanted to thank you for supporting me during these 3 months, it was a real pleasure to work at [Company Name] and I thank you for giving me the opportunity of leading this project.

I sent with this mail a technical paper detailing the functionment of the tool I developed, explaining the code and why I decided to do it this way. The tool may be find in the folder « [Name of tool] » that has been created by [Name of the IT manager] when I started to develop.

I will give back the computer used to develop to [Name of my colleague] before I leave as you told me.

Is there any paper I have to sign in order to get my salary ?

Thanks for these 10 weeks, I hope I will be able to work with you again someday,

[My Name]

Do you think this mail is a good way to ask for my salary? If not, what could/should I do?

PS : I have a working contract made by my school and the company but they didn't give me a copy of it.

(The mail is in French and it's a fast translation)

Edit : As everyone told me, I contacted directly the HR, I'm waiting for their answer.

Edit 2 : I contacted directly the HR asking how and when I will be paid, they answered me that they will mail me the paycheck during the next week if I give them my adress.

Thanks for your advices !

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    If money was never discussed, how do you know if it was a paid internship?
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:18
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    The salary was decided by the company and written on the contract but I never saw it. Anyway I have to be paid because there is a law saying that every internship during more than 10 weeks must be paid. (Edit : To be more precise, my boss told me this is a paid internship, and if it wasn't one my school wouldn't have let me do it. But he never told me "You are going to be paid X€" or "in X days")
    – Marvin T
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:20
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    This is a regional company, approximatively 400 workers. The thing is I never met the accounting/HR department, do you think I should ask my boss how to contact them instead of asking him directly how I will be paid ?
    – Marvin T
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:22
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    Do you have any documentation ( email even ) stating this was a paid internship?
    – Neo
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:33
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    Yes, I have one or two mails and a document stating it's a paid internship but the amount isn't on it.
    – Marvin T
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:47

3 Answers 3

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I would ask in person of HR, if you don't know where to find them ask reception or colleagues. Email is one way, but faster and harder to ignore if it's in person. HR will be the people who can either help you directly or point you in the right direction.

Your boss most likely is not the person handling payroll.

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    in person of HR -- matter of money like this are usually handled face to face.
    – Neo
    Jun 8, 2018 at 13:35
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    I'd recommend a bit of both - start with face to face if possible, but if the meeting ends with "We'll pay you within x days," send an email to the person you talked to confirming that you understood they will pay you within x days and cc your personal email.
    – IllusiveBrian
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:49
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    @IllusiveBrian good idea to cc your boss as well, but in person first so you know which direction to go.
    – Kilisi ♦
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:51
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Contact the payroll department of the company immediately and ask for your salary and payslips. You don't need to ask for your boss's permission to do this. Their number will be in the internal phone directory, or just ring the main reception number and ask for payroll.

When they say "we've never heard of you", call the people at your school who set the contract up and ask for their advice.

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With the information given, I will assume that you are in France and it is an internship for your school.

As it is a 3 months long internship (more than 2 months), your employer must pay a minimal salary for your employment. They are not required to pay at the end of each month though.

Stages : les obligations de l'employeur (in french)

Moreover, the contract is a tripartite agreement (given it's a French internship) between the school, the employer and you. You should have a copy of the contract and your school too.

You should ask your school about what was signed in this contract, it must have your salary written on it (and you should have read it and signed it).

You should then ask HR or whoever is in charge of payroll about when you will get your salary. If they don't respond or say you are not payed, you have to turn to your school. They will probably have more power to force them to pay you.

In your mail, I would not say

Is there any paper I have to sign in order to get my salary ?

But preferably ask how and when they are going to pay you (ask if they need any bank information or else for the payment).

I hope it helped, I personally never had payment problem during my internship but a friend of mine had one and the school fixed it up.

EDIT: After your edit and with the help of Kilisi's answer : I think you should ask an HR representative in person if you can. Where I work they have a desk where you can ask questions or sign documents when you have to. Maybe one of your colleagues now where you can do that. As it is your last day and it is quite late in France, you should get the answer now before you leave.

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    I understand very well the "rude" feeling :D But company usually understand that as a student, money is tight and getting paid is helpful (besides, in your case, they MUST pay you).
    – Valrog
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:15
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    Weird... So i guess the school expected the company to give you your contract. I think it's important that you retrieve the contract because you are not yet paid and you don't know how much they owe you. Without the contract you cannot control this amount, neither can you prove that you had an internship.
    – Valrog
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:19
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    Always read your contract, no matter what they say... How can you be sure that you didn't voluntarily give up your salary to school's charity? Always, ALWAYS read what you sign.
    – K. Stefaniak
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:22
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    Asking about your salary is not rude. Not asking is stupid - please learn from this.
    – gnasher729
    Jun 8, 2018 at 14:37
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    @MarvinT - if you think asking how (much you're getting paid)/(and) when is a bit rude … then I've got the job for you! Come work for me ...
    – davidbak
    Jun 8, 2018 at 21:39

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